Vol. 105 Issue 35
@thepittnews GOING THE DISTANCE
Monday, September 29, 2014
Pittnews.com
In the spirit of Salk
Pitt researchers work on MERS vaccine
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Pittsburgh Great Race held its annual 5K and 10K runs Sunday. Meghan Sunners | Staff Photographer
Achieving your goals: Certificates and minors can help Emily Ahlin Staff Writer
It’s a tough choice — bioengineering or chemical engineering? For many Pitt students, selecting minors or certificates can be challenging, especially when considering what potential employers would prefer to see on candidates’ resumés. Pitt offers 46 minors and 12 certificates across all schools and includes programs like Jewish studies, public and professional writing and German language studies. Certificates are usually 18 to 24 credits, and students can add them to their declared major. When students can declare majors, minors and certifi-
cates varies across programs and depends on students’ grades in their area of study. Certificates and minors offer both undergraduate and graduate students a way to enhance their degrees. Minors are available only for undergraduate students, while certificates are available for both undergraduate and graduate students, according to Blaine Connor, director of academic programs in Pitt’s College of General Studies. The goal, according to Ryan Sweeny, an assistant director in the Office of Career Development & Placement Assistance, is relevance to their intended career. “Employers understand the value of relevant experiences,” Sweeny
Milkmen and electric cars How money is delaying innovation
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said in an email. “This can certainly include a certificate or a minor, but it is more about relevance and less about what it is called. The title alone isn’t going to impress an employer; it is up to the student to explain what was involved and how it is relevant.” A choice between a certificate or a minor, Connor said, should rest with each student’s interests. “It is hard to generalize about whether a given certificate [or minor] would be better for a student,” Connor said in an email. “Sometimes the choice just comes down to which is available in the subject of interest, a minor or a certificate
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A devastating defeat Pitt loses to underdog
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September 29, 2014 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com
NEWS
Pitt researchers develop vaccine to fight respiratory virus Anjana Murali Staff Writer Pitt researchers developed a new vaccine that protects mice, and, hopefully, camels, against Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, or MERS, a viral respiratory illness spreading across the Middle East. With enough funding, researchers hope to eventually find a vaccine to protect humans from the disease. “In May 2013, more and more cases started happening in the Middle East, so we decided to design and manufacture this vaccine,” said Andrea Gambotto, an associate professor in Pitt’s Department of Surgery and senior author of the study. MERS, which can infect humans and animals, causes “severe acute respiratory illness” including shortness of breath, cough and fever, according to the Cen-
ters for Disease Control and Prevention. About 30 percent of those with confirmed cases of MERS have died since the disease was first discovered in Saudi Arabia in 2012. The team, made up of researchers from Pitt, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, developed the vaccine in summer 2013. “To make a vaccine is easy,” Gambotto said. “To make a real vaccine done through extensive testing is very complicated.” Gambotto’s lab immunized a few mice and did some initial evaluation of the response in Pittsburgh. Gambotto then sent the sera samples from the immunized mice to Bart Haagmans’ lab in the Netherlands, where researchers performed immunological evaluations of the vaccine. They studied the activity against the virus
and how well the vaccine neutralized it. Subsequent studies looked for further evidence that scientists could use this vaccine to immunize camels, which scientists believe are the primary carriers of the disease in the Middle East. The researchers wanted to demonstrate that camels do not have antibodies to neutralize the virus on their own and that the vaccine would be able to infect camels’ cells without resistance. “Therefore, future experiments in dromedary [Arabian or Indian] camels to test the immunogenicity and protective efficacy of these candidate vaccines are envisaged,” Haagmans said. Gambotto’s Dutch collaborators were the first to show that a human and camel carried the same MERS virus. “We are almost sure camels have an involvement in the disease,” Gambotto said.
However, Gambotto says it’s very unlikely that the camel is the only animal that is infected. “There probably is another animal that will close the circle,” Gambotto said. “Usually, in this kind of disease, you have three animals. The third animal is probably something that lives in close quarters with camels.” Until there is an epidemic outbreak, Gambotto said, the best approach now is to immunize animals. “The camel seems to be one of the links, so we should immunize the camel,” Gambotto said. “There could be another animal involved, but if you stop this pingpong between the two animals, then you probably stop the disease.”
Vaccine
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September 29, 2014 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com FROM PAGE 2
VACCINE Gambotto compared MERS to Lyme Disease, through which the virus bounces between deer, ticks and humans. Based on the team’s own work and what is known from other coronaviruses, vaccine candidates for MERS-CoV may need to induce antibodies to neutralize the virus at mucosal surfaces, or orifices, according to Haagmans.
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“The approach taken by Andrea Gambotto may likely be successful, as the vaccine may be able to comply with both requirements,” Haagmans said. The vaccine targets one antigen, an antibody generator, on the surface of the MERS virus because coronaviruses tend to be more stable on their surface antigens, Gambotto said. Nobody knows, though, if this virus will become more aggressive and evolve its antigenic profile. For now, the vaccine primes the immune system to detect the antigen and fight
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the virus. One limitation of this vaccine technology in humans is their preexisting immunity to it. Because the vaccine developed is a hybrid, it contains strains from multiple viruses including SARS, MERS, influenza and Ebola. Since humans have an immunity to some of the viruses included in the vaccine, antibodies from a preformed immunity will neutralize the virus and render it ineffective. Pitt’s Department of Surgery funded the beginning stages of the project.
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“We finished [the] initial phase of evaluation, which is pretty preliminary but is also very promising,” Gambotto said. “The reality is that without money, you don’t go anywhere.” The researchers are currently seeking more funding and a lab capable of handling work with camels. “Although this vaccine technology is not very innovative, based on results obtained previously with similar vaccines,
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CERTIFICATES — i.e., there is no choice.” Morgan Lindenmuth is a sophomore psychology major and plans to minor in neuroscience. While Lindenmuth hasn’t started her neuroscience coursework yet, she is “looking forward to psychology applications” in neuroscience and said having the minor would give her “more of a science background.” “I thought it would be helpful if I had some neuroscience background,” Lindenmuth said. “[There’s a] large overlap between neuroscience and psychology.” When it comes to making the choice between minors or certificates, Sweeny said it depends on relevance to career goals. This can come in many forms, and both don’t always have to fall under one general subject, like science. One example might be a chemistry major who can’t decide whether to get a certificate in global studies or conceptual foundations of medicine. “If a chemistry major wanted to work for an international pharmaceutical company
September 29, 2014 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com overseas, then I believe an employer would see value and relevance in them getting a global studies certificate,” Sweeny said. “However, if that same student is planning on applying to medical school, then the conceptual foundations of medicine certificate would be more relevant.” Lisa Beilman is a sophomore nutrition and dietetics major and said she’s considering a Spanish minor to satisfy an interest and enhance career opportunities. “It’s a really good asset to have, to be bilingual,” Beilman said, adding that it would “[make her] available to more patients.” Beilman also said she was interested in languages and that, with the Spanish minor, she had “a chance to study abroad.” But there is more to consider than just certificates and minors when it comes to earning potential, according to Sweeny. “Because a minor or certificate is one small piece in a bigger, overall picture of a student’s resumé, I think it is hard to say that it increases earning potential,” Sweeny said. Many factors contribute to earning potential, Sweeny said, including relevant experiences, major, part-time jobs, volunteer experiences and campus involvement..
“It is the combination of all those factors,” Sweeny said. Sometimes, even indirect links can be helpful. “Sometimes [a certificate or minor] does not have a direct link to the job, but that credential might catch the eye of a person reviewing a resumé who had a similar interest, just as sharing an alma mater might,” Connor said. Sweeny also suggested that students pursue minors or certificates that interest them. “We also encourage students to pursue a minor or certificate if it is in an area that they really enjoy,” Sweeny said. “It may not have significant benefits when it come to applying for a job or applying to graduate school, but if it is a topic that the student really enjoys, it is still worth the effort.” But whether or not a certificate or minor may be valuable comes back to relevance to the future. “The minor or certificate is a great addition to a resumé if it is relevant, and we strongly believe that the more relevant items students have on their resumé, the more successful they will be in pursuing full-time work or graduate/professional school,” Sweeny said.
T P N S U D O K U
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VACCINE [it] may point to a successful future application,” Haagmans said. Scientific, often medical, research like this is often a factor that continues to draw pre-med students to Pitt. “The reason I wanted to come here was because of UPMC and all of the research that goes on there,” said Ellie Gaylord, a freshman pre-med student. “I knew that my professors would be doing research and that I’d be able to get hands-on experience here.” When Kaitlyn Loh initially applied to schools, she never really considered Pitt, but changed her mind because of the scientific research at the University. “I think research projects like this one show that Pitt is very underestimated sometimes, but a very smart and capable research institute that probably deserves more recognition than it gets,” Loh, also a freshman pre-med student, said. “I feel like people are under-informed about Pitt’s abilities.”
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September 29, 2014 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com
EDITORIAL
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OPINIONS
Corporate model undermines goals of higher education Last week marked Frank Brogan’s one-year anniversary as chancellor of Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education. On looking back on his first year in office, Brogan said, “We are not the same university system we used to be.” He’s spot on — we aren’t the same, and a lot of this change has to do with Brogan’s efforts in the past year. But that’s not what is at debate here. Rather, what is controversial is how, exactly, our state’s university system has changed and continues to change. What hasn’t changed is state funding for education — it’s still not stellar, as any Tom Wolf attack ad will tell you. But coming into office a year ago, while state funding for education was what Brogan called “the elephant in the room,” retrenchment for state universities was not necessarily considered a bad thing. In fact, according to Brogan, it helped the state university system evolve for the better. Rather, the change Brogan has pursued while in office has been to make state universities more independent from state authorities. The goal is to reduce regulations the state bureaucracy has traditionally placed on universities, thus making them more flexible to compete in the market. For instance, because of the newfound emphasis on flexibility, Edinboro University has lowered its tuition price for out-
of-state students to within a few hundred dollars of what in-state students pay, at $4,937.20 for out-of-state students. Now, Edinboro is better able to compete with other state universities that already lower their rates for Pennsylvanians. While more flexibility may provide benefits for universities like Edinboro, there is a fundamental problem with encouraging competition among universities by giving them more autonomy: Universities should not have to act like corporations. By decreasing funding and leaving state universities to a match of survival of the fittest, the state does just that, which poses many long-term problems for students. For example, the current system has allowed universities more control regarding curriculum. With a lack of funding from the state, universities have naturally chosen to support more profitable areas of study. There has and continues to be a shift in campus resources toward STEM majors and away from humanities. STEM — fields of science, technology, engineering and math — offers higher returns of investment via research grants and student demand. Pitt has been no stranger to this phenomenon, either. On Jan. 30, Provost Patricia Beeson accepted proposals to eliminate the religious studies program and continue the suspension of admissions
to Pitt’s graduate programs for German and classics. “As good stewards of the resources entrusted to us, we are responsible for continuously evaluating the efficiency and effectiveness of our programs,” Beeson said. This makes sense in a market setting. But in an institution of higher learning, where students should gain exposure to ideas they wouldn’t have otherwise experienced, we’re not so sure. Using resources effectively and efficiently in this competitive market of higher education has triggered an increase in spending on administration. More focus on administration equates to a better business model and, thus, has increased focus on marketing and attracting investment, something humanities professors simply cannot do. In fact, from 1998 to 2008, private colleges increased spending 22 percent on curriculum, while increasing spending on administration by 36 percent, according to a study published by the Delta Cost Project in 2010. Consequently, the number of administrative staffers has risen by 240 percent over the past 40 years, while the instructor-to-student ratio has remained fairly constant, at about 15 or 16 students per instructor. As funding dropped, and the competi-
tive edge sharpened, universities have focused less on being universities and more on being businesses, as the trends show. There remains an obvious solution, one that is so overused and overstated, it is almost a cliché at this point: The state needs to increase education funding. Period. As any government official will tell you, this is much easier said than done. But that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. Rather than encourage wasteful spending, the state needs to create more efficient budgets that take advantage of the resources we have and transfer the money made from them into education. For instance, the state can use profits made from the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board for education, rather than marketing new liquors. Or, Pennsylvania can charge a severance tax on the extraction of natural gas from shale, like many other states currently do. And, perhaps most controversial, yet most effective, the state can increase income tax on those who make more than $100,000 a year — after all, higher education is technically a public service, so those who utilize it should, ideally, pay their fair share. The state doesn’t need to tell universities to compete with each other because it has the resources to help them. It’s just a matter of using them efficiently and getting its priorities straight.
COLUMN
Tesla troubles: Progress demands an open marketplace Stephen Caruso Columnist
America likes to pride itself on innovation. If you have a good, new idea, you have the right to try to realize it and profit from it — as demonstrated by the hit show “Shark Tank.” However, in reality, this idea is extremely complicated. Traditional busi-
ness interests tend to obstruct these ideas, because, after all, a new and better idea will always put some people out of business. Just like how the refrigerator made milkmen obsolete, Tesla seemingly poses a similar threat. Not to milk, obviously, but to the way cars are sold. Elon Musk knows this all too well. Musk is a co-founder of SpaceX, Paypal
and SolarCity, which are all successful and innovative enterprises. His crown jewel, though, just might be Tesla Motors, the electric car company. Tesla has been successful despite the derision of market experts, who attacked both Tesla’s soaring stock price and the general idea of mass-marketing electric cars. It’s true that Tesla’s stock is too high
from speculation — Musk himself said this — and that the company still hasn’t created an electric Model-T available to any level of income. But, the company continues to trend upwards — so much that it recently reached an agreement with the state of Nevada to open a new factory, which will double the world’s
Tesla
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CARUSO output of the unique batteries used in Tesla vehicles. Despite the positive trends , one problem continues to stand in Tesla’s way — one that is neither technical nor economical, but governmental. Unfortunately for Tesla, most states have laws barring the franchising of car dealerships by the parent car producer. Thus, independently-owned dealerships must make sales to customers. In Ohio, for instance, car dealership lobbyists argue that Tesla’s selling of vehicles directly to customers violates these laws. Instead, they advocate that Tesla should own showrooms to present its vehicles but should not help customers order a car from a Tesla factory. The idea is to push sales to the existing car dealerships. Why is this a problem? Dealerships make most of their money from parts and services, rather than on the car sales themselves. Tesla’s cars, or any
September 29, 2014 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com electric car for that matter, are much simpler machines. There are no oil changes, spark plugs or timing belts, thus no extra profit for the dealerships. So, the dealerships don’t have incentives to sell electric vehicles. Pennsylvania, for its part, has been more progressive and has allowed Tesla to open five stores in the state to sell its vehicles, which is a good start. But in other states to recently allow Tesla stores, like New Jersey and Washington, state legislatures have granted only the company an exception. This means future competitors who aren’t already present in the market, like Ford or Toyota, are out of luck, unless they want to engage in a whole new legal battle, for which most up-and-coming companies do not have the resources. It is true that Tesla’s short-term victories will boost sales, allowing the company to profit from innovation and encourage further growth. This will create jobs, as it is already doing in Nevada, and allow for progress towards a green car for all. On a larger scale, though, further
opening of the sales process will let any new company try to sell its car. As it is now, electric cars, while cutting down on the creation of smog, are only carbon neutral. The electricity they use has to come from somewhere, and it will likely be from burning fossil fuels. To boot, 66 percent of electricity in America comes from coal and natural gas. The laws must leave the market open to all competitors. Whoever can make the first completely green vehicle, not reliant on our current “dirty” power grid, such as a solar or hydrogen fuel cell vehicle, deserves the right to get it to the public as soon as possible. Now, we come back to the milkmen. To make this kind of competition possible, we need to reduce the power of auto dealers. Even Tesla could go under eventually if someone develops a new and better idea. But this constant cycle of creative destruction, as economist Joseph Schumpeter called it, is what makes a free market so powerful. To get in the way only forestalls the inevitable, hurting the public in the process. Email Stephen at sjc79@pitt.edu.
September 29, 2014 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com
COLUMN
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SPORTS
Mental lapses Pittʼs detriment in 21-10 loss to Akron
Jasper Wilson Senior Staff Writer Three weeks ago, Pitt football secured its win over Boston College with a late interception. After safety Terrish Webb intercepted the pass, he began to run out of the end zone before hitting the ground to avoid an onrushing opponent. Teammate Ray Vinopal, a senior captain, then came over and, in an exchange picked up by an ESPN field-level microphone, asked the sophomore what he was doing. It was a good question, because up 10 points with 13 seconds left, there was no reason to go anywhere but down. Webb had had a mental lapse. Following Saturday’s baffling display against Akron, which ended 21-10 in favor of the Zips, it’s fair to ask the Panthers the same question regarding their nightmarish performance. Pitt captain Nicholas Grigsby was penalized twice in Pitt’s loss to the Zips. Zach Schaffer Pitt (3-2, 1-0 ACC) never looked better | Senior Staff Photographer
than its lesser opposition from the MAC and never appeared to play with an urgency appropriate to the disparity in points. Head coach Paul Chryst said after the game that Akron didn’t surprise his team. “There wasn’t much that they showed us that we hadn’t prepared for,” Chryst said. But after failing against a team that lost its previous two games by an average of 24.5 points, the question still remains and, perhaps, becomes more intriguing. What were the Panthers doing? Sophomore running back James Conner ran fewer than 100 yards for the first time this season. Quarterback Chad Voytik threw two interceptions, the second of which resulted in a touchdown before its nullification due to an offsides penalty. “Offensively, we were stagnant,” Chryst said. More important were the seven penal-
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WOMEN’S SOCCER
Panthers secure first-ever ACC win thanks to Arvas goal Kevin Wheeler Staff Writer
Pitt head coach Greg Miller and his Panthers can go to sleep tonight knowing they accomplished something that no other Pitt women’s soccer team has done in the past. Pitt capped off its two-game road stint on Sunday with a 1-0 victory over the Syracuse Orange at SU Soccer Stadium, giving the program its first-ever ACC win and improving their overall record to 5-6-0. The Panthers entered Sunday’s ACC contest on a four-game losing streak and a winless record in conference play dating back to the 2013 season, when they finished the year losing all 13 of their ACC matchups. Now, with Sunday’s win, not only do the Panthers have their first conference win, but they have also eclipsed their overall win
total from last season. Miller has worked hard to turn the program around, and Sunday’s victory captured his commitment paying off. “I feel a little bit of relief, a little bit of excitement,” Miller said. “I’m just really proud of this team. They’re young and still trying to find their way, but we had a great weekend. We didn’t play as well [Sunday] as we did Thursday, but we were able to get the win, and that feels pretty darn good.” Sophomore co-captain and midfielder Siobhan McDonough was a part of this team through its struggles last season and knows what it feels like to lose. But the takeaway was just the opposite on Sunday. “It feels great,” McDonough said. “The past couple of games we had been playing much better, and I knew it was just a matter of time before our first win in the ACC, so I
am very excited.” Late in the second half, shortly after the referee called back a Pitt goal when redshirt senior forward Alex Charlebois was caught offside, freshman forward Taylor Pryce drew a foul in the middle of the box off of a corner kick, which lead to a penalty kick opportunity. Miller elected to have junior midfielder and forward Roosa Arvas take the kick, and she promptly booted it into the back of the net for a score in the 84th minute. With the goal, Arvas increased her goal total this season to seven, accompanying her teamleading 15 points, 30 shots and 17 shots on goal. She leads the Panthers in every offensive category. Senior co-captain and defenseman Jackie Poucel, who has lead the young team all season, was there to support Arvas as the pres-
sure built up with the penalty kick. “In my mind, I knew it was going in,” Poucel said. “I had full confidence in Roosa. It was just an awesome feeling.” Miller was confident in Arvas as well, citing her experience as being very valuable to the team. “[Roosa] has been great, she’s won a lot of halves for us,” Miller said. “She seems to be our most able player when we need goals the most. When she’s confident and playing well, good things happen, whether she’s setting other people up or other people set her up, she’s able to capitalize.” The game’s outcome was far from expected based on the first half of play. The Panthers came out and looked fatigued early, perhaps resulting from the long weekend
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September 29, 2014 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com
VOLLEYBALL
Pitt defeats Boston College, wins first ACC game of year
The Fitzgerald Field House continues to be a haven for Pitt success, as the team extended its winning streak to eight Sunday afternoon against Boston College. The Panthers defeated the Eagles 25-22, 25-18 and 25-11. “They were a really solid team. We watched a lot of film on them, and we knew they were going to be good, so it was awesome to come out and sweep them,” senior setter Lindsey Zitzke said. Senior outside hitter Jessica Wynn agreed and said the win was a “confidence boost.” Pitt (13-1, 1-0) not only beat its 11th opponent of the season in straight sets but won its first ACC conference match, too. The Panthers seem to have Boston College’s number with the overall series record reading 19-1, as the team swept BC last season in conference play with a
3-0 and 3-2 win. “It feels great. It feels really good, especially knowing that was a really good volleyball team,” Pitt head coach Dan Fisher said. “They beat Louisville a couple days ago. It was very important to start off with a win in conference play.” Serving was an issue for Pitt in its last match, but that was not the case Sunday. Both setters for the Panthers — Zitzke and junior Jenna Jacobson — had two aces, and Wynn had one. With her second ace, Zitzke reached 152 for her career, tying the program record for most aces. “We definitely served better tonight,” Fisher said. “It definitely influenced the game, especially the second set. I didn’t think we played particularly well, but we served so tough, that was the difference. If not, they might have taken that [set].” Wynn led the team in kills with 19, while senior libero Delaney Clesen recorded 19 digs. Defensively, Pitt outdid the Eagles (6-7, 1-1 ACC) in digs and blocks.
The Panthers also held two of BC’s top players to a negative hitting percentage. Outside hitters Katty Workman and Sol Calvete had less-than-average games. Due to Pitt’s defensive success, the Eagles’s were forced to rely on right side Julia Topor, who finished the match hitting .417 with 18 kills. “They rely a lot on their outside hitters, so we focused on that a lot,” Wynn said. “But they definitely have a lot of options. [Topor] had a really good game. She picked up the slack for the outside hitters.” Fisher agreed that the Panthers couldn’t stop Topor. “We couldn’t do anything against her tonight,” the second-year head coach said. “It was a big offensive night for her.” Middle hitter Amanda Orchard continued her successful season with another match where she hit above .400. The junior hit .583 with eight kills and two and a half blocks. After exchanging the first two points of
The Pitt News Crossword, 9/28/2014
Caitlin Hinsey Staff Writer
ACROSS Most unwavering “Forget about it!” Canine issue Previously in print? 17 Standing guard 18 Pronged 19 __ roast 20 Grandstand group 22 Celebrated 25 “Danny and the Dinosaur” author Hoff 26 Marathon rtes., perhaps 30 Botched (up) 32 Christmas catalog item 34 Restaurant convenience 36 Evening affair 38 Readily assuming different forms 39 Like original Matchbox cars 40 Got a chuckle out of 41 Rickety 42 Ruman of “Stalag 17” 43 Krona : öre :: ruble : __ 45 __ perpetua: Idaho’s motto 46 2008 Soderbergh biopic 48 Shooting ratios 50 Immobilize, as with fear 52 First NFL Man of the Year Award recipient (1970) 57 Savannah sighting 58 Chukka boot feature 61 Actress Kemper of “The Office” 62 Small cookers 63 Enjoyed 64 Stretch, say
set one, Pitt went on a five-point streak, thanks to kills by Wynn and opposite Kate Yeazel, and three attack errors by BC. The Panthers held a comfortable lead against the Eagles throughout the set until late, when they ran into trouble. With the score reading 17-11, BC soared back into the game. Back-to-back attack errors on the Panthers, as well as three aces by the Eagles’ setter Kellie Barnum, brought BC within one. Despite a Pitt timeout, the Eagles tied the set at 20. But the Panthers’ luck changed when BC’s top hitter, Workman, had two attack errors in a row. Up 22-20, kills from Wynn and Orchard paved the way for the set win. “The biggest thing I am pleased with as a team is that we kept both outside hitters to a negative hitting percentage,” Fisher said. “I don’t know if we have ever done that, but what I do know is that if you do
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September 29, 2014 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com FROM PAGE 7
FOOTBALL ties, for a combined 55 yards. “I thought we’d play cleaner,” Chryst said. Part of playing cleaner is avoiding penalties. Pitt didn’t do that. The most glaring example was a 10yard holding call on left guard Dorian Johnson. The hold erased a Voytik touchdown to Tyler Boyd in the third quarter, with Pitt down seven. “That was disheartening, it really was,” Voytik said. “You celebrate after a touchdown, and then you find out that you have to play another play.“ However, Chris Blewitt made a 34-yard field goal to salvage something positive from the drive. But the momentum firmly remained with the Zips until the final whistle, whose only win before this weekend came against Howard, a 1-4 Football Subdivision team. Before that, with the second quarter coming to a close, an offside penalty by junior defensive tackle Darryl Render turned
a third-and-nine into a third-and-four, which Akron converted. The mistake didn’t result in any points, but Akron drove to the Pitt 30-yard line before a David Durham sack pushed the offense out of field goal range. Infractions come down to discipline, something Pitt is unable to maintain for stretches. The penalty problem is nothing new. Coming into the week five matchup, Pitt tied for 55th among FBS schools in penalties per game with six, 77th in fewest total penalties with 24, 85th in fewest total penalty yards with 220 and 68th in fewest penalty yards per game with 55. After Akron, Pitt improved one spot in total penalty yards (275) and moved up to 63 in penalty yards per game (55). It could have gone the other way if not for an unsportsmanlike conduct flag on Shakir Soto in the fourth quarter that was offset, meaning no yards. Meanwhile, Pitt dropped seven spots to 62 in penalties per game (6.2) and dropped two spots to 79th in fewest total penalties (31). Pitt’s movement in these rankings comes while many of the other teams,
both behind and ahead of Pitt, have only played four games to the Panthers’ five. With next Saturday’s game at Virginia marking the midpoint of the regular season, shouldn’t the group have addressed this issue by now? The other issues facing this team — of which there are many — deserve attention too, sure, but penalties are basic. Captains T.J. Clemmings, a redshirt senior, and Nicholas Grigsby, a redshirt junior, committed three of the penalties, totaling 25 yards. Vinopal, who had a first-quarter interception in the end zone that kept the visitors from taking an early lead, said the ongoing penalty problem comes down to a lack of discipline and focus. “It’s easy to get out of the moment. Coach Chryst always says ‘win the now, be concerned with the now’,” Vinopal said. “In a close game, you can’t afford to be losing yards and first downs [on penalties] and expect to win.” Saturday proved as much, and last week’s contest against Iowa did, too. Pitt had eight for 80 yards then —its most of the season.
9 Redshirt senior Manasseh Garner has committed several of the infractions this year, which he acknowledged. “We get a big 15-yard run, we can’t have a 10-yard penalty to bring it back,” Garner said. “I take that upon myself.” What’s it going to take to improve in this area of play? “Focus. Gotta focus,” he said. “During the week, I feel like we gotta focus more, and just own that. We can’t let little things like false starts just go off and just dismiss it. We gotta focus during the week because it transitions into the game. “ If this team can’t figure out how to do so, the Panthers won’t be able to succeed.
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September 29, 2014 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com FROM PAGE 7
SOCCER away from home, since Pitt departed from Pittsburgh last Wednesday morning. But they responded with resilience after getting out of the first half knotted at zero with the Orange. “[The players] were all tired, or mentally tired, as a result of being physically tired, and they were just able to dig a little bit deeper,” Miller said. “They just found a way, and they did it in a way that they didn’t panic. Slowly but surely, with every tackle, with every pass, with every ball cleared out, we were able to gain some confidence and put more pressure on [Syracuse]. Eventually, they were rewarded.” The Panthers’ ability to respond to the pressure also showed with their performance against Boston College last Thursday. It was a game that they played extremely well, and, finally, the Panthers seem to play with some confidence on the field. “The BC game was a turning point for our team,” McDonough said. “Collectively, we had a lot more fight than in past ACC games, like last year. We had grown our confidence, and it showed.” Poucel would agree, but she has consistently been encouraging her teammates to believe in themselves. Her wish was finally FROM PAGE 8
VOLLEYBALL that, it’s hard for the other team to beat you. So there was a big effort against their left side hitters.” Pitt’s struggles continued into the second set, as the Panthers dropped the first three points before a kill by Yeazel put the team on the board. Pitt would remain trailing or tied for the first half of the set before taking off. The largest lead for the Panthers would be 17-11, with a handful of points coming from BC errors. Pitt sealed the victory in set two thanks to a service ace by Jacobson, along with kills by Wynn, Orchard and outside hitter Mariah Bell, who came in for sophomore outside hitter Maria Genitsaridi. Set three was the best set of the match for the Panthers. The team jumped out to a 6-2 lead, with a Genitsaridi kill starting an early run. The Panthers added to their lead with kills by Wynn, Orchard
granted this weekend. “We’ve finally started to click, and now we have some confidence back,” Poucel said. “We know that we are perfectly capable of competing with these [ACC] teams and winning.” All seems well in Pitt women’s soccer world at the moment, but the Panthers will be back to work tomorrow, as they shift their focus to North Carolina State, who awaits them for a match in Raleigh, N.C., on Saturday. Pitt is tenacious right now, a feeling it hopes to maintain as the weekend approaches. It’s been an up and down ride for the Panthers so far this season, with the Syracuse win being their peak, but Miller knows it is time to make that effort stick. “We want to get another win; we want to keep building,” Miller said. “Now that we have some confidence, we want to continue to get better and improve and see if we can do some more damage in the league. By no means are we going to sit on this win and sit back for the rest of the season and say, ‘we won one game.’ We will concentrate all of our efforts on North Carolina State, and hopefully we can go down there and make something happen.” Pitt will visit the North Carolina State Wolfpack this Saturday, Oct. 4, with a kickoff set for 7:00 p.m. and middle blocker Jenna Potts, upping the score to 11-5. The Eagles were unable to hold off Pitt as Wynn, Casey Durham and Orchard had back-to-back kills while Jacobson recorded a second ace to bring her team to a 22-11 lead. Wynn added a kill of her own, and the final two points of the set, and ultimately the match, were on two attack errors by the Eagles. “I am proud of the way we took care of the things that we were keying on, and it’s exciting to start the ACC off with a win,” Wynn said. The Panthers hope to have continued success in their second season in the ACC. In the conference, Pitt currently ranks first in assists, aces and kills per set with 14.13, 1.76 and 14.87, respectively, while sitting second in digs and both opponent and team hitting percentages. The Panthers average 15.37 digs with opponents hitting .129 while the team hits .273. Pitt’s next match is Oct. 3 at 7 p.m. against the North Carolina Tar Heels.